This analysis uses March Current Population Survey data from 1999-2010 and a differences-in-differences approach to examine how California’s first in the nation paid family leave (PFL) program affected leave-taking by mothers following childbirth, as well as subsequent labor market outcomes. We obtain robust evidence that the California program doubled the overall use of maternity leave, increasing it from an average of three to six weeks for new mothers – with some evidence of particularly large growth for less advantaged groups.

Based on a nationwide field survey of “a thousand villages” in 30 Chinese provinces, this study employs the SF-8 global health status measure and the extended model of Grossman and its sequential probability regression to analyze the effects of public health, the access of basic medical services and the new rural cooperative medical system on the health of residents.